In a Strange Place
by Hopefully.Almost.There
Summary: The night began in a strange place between two pained souls. Though the night ends, questions stay still unanswered. Yet for one, another path and another goal reveal themselves in the morning light.
1. Prologue

**DISCLAIMER:**

I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE CONTENT, CHARACTERS, RIGHTS, ETC. FOR "FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST." ALL RIGHTS, CONTENT, CHARACTERS, ETC. BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS. I ONLY OWN MY OWN CHARACTER!

**Author's Note:**

It's been a few years since I've written anything, but I wanna get back into it mainly to practice writing and for entertainment (plus I just love my fandoms!)

This is the prologue for my new story, "In a Strange Place."

Also, I AM including some of my favorite tropes such as: my OC will have her cell phone (for comedic reflief), Nina and Hughes will live (it's my story ima make it happen!), and Amestris and FMA are real and not an anime (I like those stories better).

I don't want to give too much away because I have a lot of suprises in store for this multichapter fic. I think it will be decent, but please leave reviews! Who should I ship? Should I go the 2003 or 2009 route? Give your opinions!

Chapter 1 will be up by July 9th.

**Prologue:**

I vaguely remember a little pain when I fell, but I could not remember anything before. In fact, those first few moments I felt completely...displaced? Distorted? It's so difficult to discribe. Part of me wants to say the world felt thick - like I was submerged in honey, or mud. Another part is the opposite. I could see, hear, and feel just fine (I think), but nothing registered to my senses. Either way, all of me felt outside of reality and almost non-existant. A gradual settling and inner assurance of permance chase the weird feeling far away from myself and my memory.

So, when I was finally myself again, I was very confused to be staring into the face of a very large brown and white dog. It wheezed and whined next to me. The eyes were strange - all white with no pupils - but the look of sorrow and pleading in the poor creature's eyes was powerful.

'Poor baby...'

I wanted to help - I couldn't just do nothing. I took note of my body. A heaviness and weakness still weighed me down, but that didn't mean that I couldn't offer a little bit of comfort for now.

The dog gave off a completely non-threatening vibe. Still, slowly and carefully, I lifted my hand and reached out.


	2. Chapter 1 New Version

**Author's Note:**

I couldn't wait until Tuesday. I am on a role! I still have room to either follow 2003 or 2009. I hope you all like this first chapter. What direction do y'all think I should go?

AlSO it is important to read this chapter because it is a re-write. Originally, I thought Amestris had a different language other than English, but I was mistaken.

Also I changed my OC's name to something I think fits better.

Thank you **AnimeandFanficLover** for your review and letting me know that!!! I was gonna keep it in, but ultimately I could not see how I could make it work since Amestris actually does have English. And I just scraped my plan and made a better one that makes more sense.

See everyone this is why we have reviews!!! :)

Please leave reviews for this new edition!

**Chapter 1:**

"It's okay, puppy." I said weakly while reaching out. The dog whined and tentatively shuffled forward with its head bowed. But as soon as I touched the animal, a blindling red glow immediately surrounded us. I squeezed my eyes shut and froze. My heart beat faster and I felt my hand shake. After a moment, the glow faded away. Though, I did not immediately open my eyes or move. I waited for anything else to happen.

And then I heard a very soft crying.

Opening my eyes, my breathe caught. The brown and white dog was gone. Laying on its side, panting and dazed, was just a large white dog. But, a few inches to the right was a very young child.

She was naked and curled up in the fetal position with her face hidden from me. Sobs and mummbling came from her prone form.

'Oh my God.' I thought. I pushed myself up and shaked the last traces of dizziness and heaviness off. I finally took note that we were in an allyway and it was raining softly.

"Hey baby, you're okay. Are you hurt? Can you tell me what happened?" I was sitting by the child now and had draped the cloak from my Halloween custome over the little girl. It was not completely dry, but at least she wasn't exposed anymore. A quick glance at the little girl and the ground around her first yeilded no sign blood or injury.

She sniffled and slowly lifted her head to look at me. I gave her an encouraging smile. "Hi, my name is Sophie. What's your name? I'm not going to hurt you. I want to help you. Are you hurt?" I spoke in the same gentle tone I used whenever a new younger came to my current foster home from some tramatic situation.

For a moment, she just looked at me. Her blue eyes simmered with tears. I held out my hand for her to take if she wanted. Growing up in foster care, I saw the effects from a variety of abuse. Some young children did not like physical contact. This little girl could not have been older than five years old and she was all by herself in a stormy allyway at night, naked. None of those elements painted a pretty picture.

As for what happen with the dog and red glow...I could not think of an explanation to tell myself. I tried to push it out of my mind for now.

The little girl reached her hand out to me and made grabbing motions, but seemed reluctant to move. Carefully, I wrapped the cloak around her and pulled the little girl into my lap. She started crying again and latched onto me for comfort by grabbing my corset and burying her face.

I tried to calm her down by speaking softly and patting her back.

While the little girl cried, I used one hand to dig around my purse. 'There it is!' I thought triumphantly when I found my phone.

I glanced at the battery. '100%. Good. No service. Probably the rain. I don't think I need service for an emergency call.'

But absolutely none of my calls would go through. I tried 10 times and move the phone around in the air with zero difference.

I frowned and stuffed the phone back inside my purse.

'Oh now what should I do? I have no idea where I'm at, much less a police station.'

"Hey sweetie, would you know where to find a policeman?"

The little girl sniffled and barely looked up from her little cocoon. "I don't know...I want big brother." More tears whelled up in her eyes.

"Hey there, we'll find him okay? Try and relax. Everything's okay." I assured the little girl. I dug around in my bag until I found my keys. "Isn't this cute?" I asked giving her the fuzzy llama keychain off my keys.

Her face relaxed a little. "It's cute..." She said petting the llama's soft fur. "Here you can hold it. Do you have a name? My name is Sophie."

"Mine is Nina." She responded while completely focused on petting the llama.

"Hi Nina it's nice to meet you. Can you tell me if anything hurts or doesn't feel right?"

She didn't answer for a moment.

"I feel...less bad, but bad. It not as bad if I stay still mostly." She turned to look at me with pleading eyes. "Is Alexander okay?"

"Is Alexander the dog over there?"

"Yeah."

I looked at the dog. It looked utterly exhausted and prone on the ground, but it was breathing. I did not see any blood or injuries either. "I think he will be okay. He is just very tired."

The little girl nodded and laid her head back down on my chest. Her attention returned to the little fuzzy llama. I let her take a few more moments to relax.

"Okay baby, we need to get out of this weather. Do - "

"N-NINA?!"

I jumped at the sudden shout and jerked my head toward the voice.

Again, I was met with a strange sight. At the opening of the ally stood a blond haired boy in a red coat drenched in rainwater. The strange thing was seeing an actual suit of armour towering beside the blond boy.

The blond boy's eyes were wide. The experssion on his face look desperate and sad - like something terrible had happened - but the strongest emotion I saw was complete disbelief. The armor did seemed frozen by how still it stood.

"Big brother Ed?" Nina said softly looking up from the llama.

That got the two moving. Both suddenly rushed toward us. I couldn't help, but tense up (mainly because the armored man was so huge and intimidating AND running right at us).

"Nina! Are you okay? How do you feel? Does anything hurt?" The armored man said reaching out for the little girl.

'Why in the world does his voice sound like that?' I thought to myself. 'That armored body is huge. The person inside should look and sound like a full grown man!'

Nina put her arms out and made the same grabbing motions. "Big brother, big brother." At first, I was worried he would hurt her with all the sharp points on the armor( I also was very wary about what involvement they had in Nina ending up here to begin with). Yet, Nina wanted him more than anything. He even more so natural in all that. Immediately, Nina was calm and content in his arms.

"Nina! I'm so sorry. Are you okay? Does anything hurt?" The blond boy said. I could see on his face so much sadness and guilt.

Alexander seemed to come back to life at that moment. He started whinning softly and attempting to sit up.

"Big brothers, help Alexander please."

"Of course we will. Here Nina let Ed take you so I can carry Alexander."

Nina happily transfered to the other brother. The armored man then walked over and very careful situated the dog in his arms.

"Um, Nina really needs to get out of this weather and those wet clothes. She might catch a cold out here." I said to the blond boy.

He nodded and stared at me in a way that he had so many questions. I did too.

"Big sister come too."

"Of course, Nina don't worry. She is definitely coming with us." Ed answered back. I got a feeling I didn't have a choice.

'Well, going with them is better than sitting out in the rain.'


	3. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:**

Hello! If you follow this story and get the alerts, then go back and re-read Chapter 1 and the Author's Note because I re-wrote them almost completely differently.

Please review!

**Chapter 2**

'At least it stopped raining.' Still, my frown stayed. I reconized not a single thing around me. The buildings, roads, and even cars looked so...old fashioned. It was starting to freak me out.

And another thing. It was Halloween. I may not remember what I was doing before, but I know what day it was still. Plus, I was still wearing my witch costume for that silly party (No. I did not go trick or treating. I'm 14. I went to a party. I left. I think. Did I make it home? Apparently not...) Yet, I saw not a single pumpkin, skeleton, ghost decoration etc. Maybe it was too late for trick or treaters, but people don't usually bother taking decorations down right after.

The boys weren't saying anything. The blond boy sped-walked as fast as he could straight ahead. I'm sure he didn't want to jostle Nina too much. The armor kept my pace.

'Guess armored man is keeping track of me.'

After a while, the blond boy finally approached a building and made his way inside. The armor and I followed.

I think it was an apartment building because of all the doors. I didn't know which one to look for, so I just followed.

'Wait a minute. I am following complete strangers to another complete strangers' house.' Paraonia started to bloom in my chest. 'I shouldn't watch so many true crime stories. Surely, nothing will happen.' But, it's hard not too get nervous when you see and hear some of the things from foster care.

'What other choice do I have...I can't remember how I got here or what I was doing. Pleasant Valley is not a big city like this...and I don't even reconize this city.'

The blond boy started banging on a door loudly and I jumped out of my thoughts.

"Come on, please open the door." I heard the him mumble.

I tensed when said door finally did open. I saw a man standing in the door with glasses and...pink pajamas with chicks on them? (Okay, I will admit I was so happy to see some modern looking clothes. The pajamas remind me of Wal-mart ha ha!) The man looked sleepy, confused, and concerned all at once.

"Ed what's wrong -"

"Can we come in, please. Nina and Alexander somehow got back to normal, but they are wet and cold. Nina needs clothes too. Maybe medical care, I don't know. HQ is empty right now and you were the closest person around."

The blond boy pleaded fast, gesturing to both Nina in his arms and Alexander in the armor's.

"Of course. Come in." The man shuffled us all in quickly and closed the door. The man instructed us into the living and quickly retrieved a stack of dry thick towels from the bathroom.

I took one and spread it on the floor where the armored man wanted to lay the dog. He draped and tucked another towel over the dog for warmth.

"Please girl, wrap Nina up. Do you see any injuries?"

The blond boy was beside me now.

"Of course. I don't think so. I didn't see any blood earlier. She just said she felt bad." I grabbed the fluffiest towel from the stack and carefully took Nina from the boy's arms. She was sound asleep, but her face still look so tired and pained.

I peeled the wet cloak off of Nina and wrapped her up in the towel. I checked first and did not see any cuts, bruises, or blood. She look compelety fine.

'But...that first dog and the weird red glow...what in the world was that?'

A woman came into the room followed by the man again.

"Gracia is going to take Nina, dry her off, get her some clothes, and put her back to sleep. Okay?" The man had a hand on the blond boy's shoulder and gave both him and the armor reassuring looks.

"That's fine. We need to talk with you anyway." The blond boy said looking at me.

"Sure. I want to talk too."


End file.
